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Archana Masih

While the
Rohingyas have received strong public support from the international community
and there has been virulent criticism of the actions of the Myanmar government
in the press and the social media, the responses of the various governments
have been much more measured. Some Organization for Islamic Cooperation
countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey have reached out with
humanitarian assistance and practical help to the Myanmar government,...

Dr Ramzy Baroud

Caught within
this brutal, baseless logic, some American Muslims no longer define themselves
around their own political priorities, nor do they mobilize themselves
alongside their natural allies – those who come from historically oppressed
communities. Instead, they have taken to apologizing for their ‘Muslim-ness’,
rather than demand an apology, justice and equality....

Timothy Garton Ash

If this
newspaper were published in Turkey the rest of this column might be entirely
blank, except for an author photograph at the top and the words, printed in
large type, “124 days deprived of freedom”. That’s what the country’s most
important surviving oppositional newspaper, Cumhuriyet, regularly prints for
its imprisoned columnists – with the tally of days in jail ticking up and up.
One leading columnist, Kadri Gürsel, recently sent a moving letter that begins:
“I salute you all with love from B block, ward number 25 of Silivri prison
number 9.”...

Ekaterina Neroznikova

Any expert will
tell you that taking on a new faith is a serious commitment and a serious
decision. Any woman who does so to find a husband should understand that the
problem isn’t religious identity, but the customs and way of life of her new
husband and of his family. She must learn her rights as well as her
responsibilities — both the Islamic (Sharia) and those traditional to the North
Caucasus (Adat). If the former
are violated, she mustn’t hesitate to seek help. It’s worth remembering that
Islam doesn’t only concern itself with women’s duties — but their rights,
too....

The Hindu Daily

Semi-divine
females or Yoginis have been an integral part of the Indian folklore. These
women were naturally beautiful and had voices which could charm the listener by
the emotional intensity of their songs, a sort of heavenly chant which was not
of this world. Many a king and commoner was enchanted by Yoginis who appeared
suddenly in wood, glen and dale or standing under a gnarled tree or beside a
stream where the angler was taken by surprise….

Bina Shah

When we make an
‘other’ out of people, and distance ourselves from them, we drive out empathy
and respect, an act that then makes violence against others possible. To get
rid of terrorism in Pakistan, we have to first realise that with our words, we
are all parents in its conception and midwives present at its birth....

Bagoes Wiryomartono

Thomas
Aquinas regarded blasphemy a major unforgiveable sin, more grave than murder.
Meanwhile, blasphemy against God and the Church was a crime punishable by death
in much of the Christian world. The Quran and the authentic teachings of the
Prophet Muhammad describe the practice of showing disrespect or mockery to God
and His messenger as acts of ignorance, deliberate provocation or hatred….

Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam

The
recently attacked Sufi shrine in Pakistan, Dargah Lal Shahbaz Qalandar is
equally venerated and visited by Pakistan’s Sufi-oriented Muslim majority and
the Hindu minority. Inevitably, not only Muslim devotees, but even a
considerable number of non-Muslims were killed in the suicide blast.
Regrettably, it is quite ironic to see the Prophetic ideals being brazenly
violated by the puritanical Islamists in Pakistan, given the state was created
in the name of Nizam-e-Mustafa (the Prophetic system of governance)with its
constitution loudly being claimed to follow the model of Misaq-e-Madina….

Hamid Dabashi

None of this is
to say Muslims en masse are God's gift to humanity. Islamophilia is as deranged
as Islamophobia. There are an estimated 1.5 billion Muslims around the globe.
They have their share of criminal thugs, homicidal sociopaths, psychotic gangs,
etc. But to address such pathologies you will need a minimum of sympathy for
the common humanity of millions of other Muslims who have nothing to do with
these criminals.....

Hiranmay Karlekar

The question is
whether history will repeat itself. Given past experience, it is very likely
that it will. Hence, another question: Why this flurry of action now? One
reason can be fear of the Trump Administration which is determined to stamp out
the Islamic State and Islamist terrorism, and may not have much patience with
Pakistan’s patronage of the JeM and JuD. This pressure from FATF, and genuine
alarm at the recent surge of terrorism inside Pakistan, may well have led to
these measures and the launch of Radd-ul-Fasaad...

Adnan Adil

Although signs
of Daesh’s footprint in the country began to appear in 2014, top officials of
the federal and Punjab governments dismissed the organisation’s presence in
Pakistan until recently. Daesh had established its bases in eastern
Afghanistan’s bordering areas with Pakistan in 2014 and, soon afterwards, had
penetrated into South Waziristan. Daesh’s sanctuaries, training camps and
financial resources in Afghanistan have infused a new life into Pakistan’s
outlawed militant sectarian groups....

Lesley Hazleton

Is that too big
a leap in both time and theology? Maybe not. Akyol frames it this way: “The
three great Abrahamic religions of our battered world, despite all the past and
present tensions between them, come together” in the story of Jesus. “Whether
we are Jews, Christians or Muslims, we share either a faith followed by him, or
a faith built on him, or a faith that venerates him.”....

Khaled Ahmed

After the
Pakistani killers of the Islamic State (IS) slew 88 devotees and wounded
hundreds at the “Shia” mausoleum of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar at Sehwan Sharif in
Sindh recently, people thought it was an act of satanic cruelty. But IS knew
Sehwan as “Shia” and that the saint buried there was renamed Usman to avoid
being found out. The saint is revered by Muslims, Hindus, Ismailis and other
branches of Islam; all dance together to the Qalandar’s mesmerising songs. Did
the IS take itself out of the pale of Islam with this act?....

Saif Shahin

Palestinians
should not forget the exp­erience of Israeli Arabs when they think about a
one-state solution, he adds. “We are 1.5 million Arabs inside Israel. We have just
five cities and more than 470 villages. Arabs live divided into small tribes
rather than together. It undermines our Palestinian identity. This is how they
are going to treat Palestinians if we go towards a one-state solution.”....

The Muslim Vibe

Imam Ali in the
first sermon of Nahjul Balagha says “The foremost (first) in religion is the
acknowledgement (knowledge) of Him.” In the part of the speech, the Imam
clearly defines the most important and fundamental step that one must begin
with. This is the knowledge of God. Interestingly, the Imam says the first (أَوَّلُ)
but does not mention a second or third later in his sermon. This demonstrates
that this opening step is of huge importance, such that no second or third can
rival its importance....

Robert J. Burrowes, New Age Islam

It is already
clearly apparent, as many predicted that Donald Trump's election as president
of the United States would signal the start of what might be the final
monumental assault on much of what is good in our world. Whatever our
collective gains to date to create a world in which peace, social justice and
environmental sustainability ultimately prevail for all of Earth's inhabitants,
we stand to lose it all in the catastrophic sequence of events that Trump is
now initiating with those who share his delusional worldview.....